A mid-body seeker payload is known in which the seeker optics of the guidance system are retained within the mid-body and designed so as to protect them, as much as possible, from being damaged or obstructed, e.g., dirt, grime, soot, exhaust gases, heat, and flame that typically occur during normal deployment of missiles from a multi projectile magazine, such as those carried under the wings of aircraft or coupled to the exterior of helicopters. Currently, the seeker optics of such guidance systems are located in wings that are deployed after launch and designed to control the flight of the missile (see FIGS. 1 and 2). Each wing has an optical sensor of some type formed within the wing. While the projectile or missile is contained within the magazine, the wings are maintained in their retracted position at least partially accommodated within the mid-body of the missile.
Once the missile is fired or launched from the magazine, the wings are automatically deployed by a guidance controller and pivoted outwardly away from the body to facilitate guiding the missile during flight. Once the wings are deployed, the seeker optics supported thereby are moved in a position so as to provide observation the approaching area, e.g., ground, sky, target, etc. The four seeker optics communicate with a guidance controller and work in concert with one another to detect the location of an intended target to be struck. The guidance controller processes the optical images/signals received from the optics and, in turn, transmits guidance signals to the deployed guidance wings which are suitably controlled so as to guide the missile at the intended target.
Although such wing assemblies protect, to some degree, the optics from becoming damaged or partially or completely obstructed by dirt, grime, soot, exhaust gases, heat, and flame, such systems currently utilize four optical sensors, e.g., one accommodated within each wing and this, in turn, adds to the associated cost for the guidance control system. Moreover, as these optical sensors all continuously transmit data to the guidance control system sometimes it may be somewhat difficult for the guidance control system to determine which of the sensors is seeing what image. For example, which sensor or sensors is/are viewing the ground and/or intended target and which sensor or senses is/are viewing the sky.
Furthermore, the data from the optical sensors is processed under the assumption that the four optical sensors are aligned and constantly maintain this alignment throughout the entire flight of the missile. Misalignment is typically accounted for during a laboratory calibration of the sensors and this tends to introduce error into the reconstruction and degrade system performance. The structure of the wing assemblies is driven by the requirement to effectively become an optical bench operating at supersonic speeds. In addition, the optical sensor that is supported in each of the wings of an airframe, such as a missile, tends to introduce drag due to the additional wing thickness that is typically necessary for accommodating and/or protecting the optical system. The drag caused by the wings also compound the difficulties associated with accurately controlling the flight of the airframe.